My old Atari 2600 came back to life after a weird trick with a paperclip

I was trying to fix the power switch on my Atari 2600 from 1980. The console would not turn on at all. I opened it up and cleaned the switch with contact cleaner, but that did nothing. Out of ideas, I gently bent a small paperclip into a hook and slid it behind the switch's plastic rocker. I pulled forward just a bit to put pressure on the metal contacts inside. The red power light flickered on. I held it there, plugged in a game, and the screen came up. I learned the plastic rocker had worn down over 40 years and was not pushing the internal switch far enough to make contact. A tiny piece of folded cardboard wedged in there now keeps it working. Has anyone else had a fix this simple bring a console back from the dead?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_singh1828d ago

Wait you fixed a 40 year old console with a piece of cardboard? That's actually wild.

xena_murphy27d ago

What kind of cardboard did you use?